1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to apparatus and methods to assist in the transport of luggage and other baggage to and from an aircraft passenger boarding ramp or bridge to ground level for storage into and out of the baggage compartment of an aircraft. More particularly it relates to an improved bridge cabin construction having means to facilitate the quick, safe and efficient transport of luggage and other baggage from the bridge cabin to ground level and from the ground level back into the bridge cabin.
2. Prior Art
The most common way to board passengers into modern jets is to utilize an elevated passenger boarding bridge or boarding ramp. Most bridges include a covered walkway or tunnel that connects at one end to an airport terminal building where passengers gather to board an aircraft. The walkway in most cases comprises multiple sections that can be manipulated to telescope outward toward a parked aircraft. In most cases there will be a bridge cabin attached to the other end of the walkway. In many instances the bridge cabin will have a round compartment commonly referred to as the “bubble cabin” that contains the bridge control equipment and has a passageway for the passengers to pass. It is also common for the bridge cabin to have a forward cabin extending from the bubble cabin. The forward cabin is sometimes referred to as a “vestibule” or “cab.” The forward cabin extends outward from the bubble cabin and has a ramp or floor section that is aligned with the aircraft passenger doorway to permit passengers to and from the aircraft from the bubble cabin. In many cases the forward cabin is constructed to permit the ramp or floor section to tilt or rotate for better alignment with the aircraft boarding doorway. The forward cabin also generally includes an accordion-type canopy extending from the bubble cabin frame that can be extended to rest on the aircraft fuselage about the boarding doorway of the aircraft to provide cover for the passengers passing through the forward cabin. In some bridges there will be an outside stairway connected to the bridge cabin through a bubble cabin or forward cabin doorway to permit airline personnel to gain quick access to the bridge cabin from ground level, or in an emergency permit passengers to exit the bridge or the bridge cabin through the doorway. More modern bridge cabins are constructed wherein the forward cabin can independently move sideways and/or have floor panels that can independently be extended or retracted to permit better alignment with the aircraft boarding doorway. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,122,789 and 6,802,096 illustrate examples of such modern bridge cabs.
Due to various safety regulations, the luggage or other baggage that passengers may bring into the aircraft passenger compartment is limited in the type, size and number of articles. It is not uncommon for a passenger to enter the boarding bridge with such items that can not be permitted into the aircraft passenger compartment. In such a case it is necessary that the items be checked and loaded into the aircraft baggage compartment. This is commonly referred to as the “late bag” problem.
The earlier solutions to the late bag problem was to have the airline personnel check the articles in the bridge cabin and then hand carry the articles down the adjoining stairway to the ground level where it could then be picked up for loading into the aircraft baggage compartment. U.S. Pat. No. 3,404,417 illustrates such a stairway adjoining the bridge cabin that could be used for that purpose. However, this method of handling the late bag problem was never efficient, nor in all cases, safe for the airline personnel who had to carry the articles up and down the stairway. Other early solutions to this problem included the mounting of a baggage loader to the side of the elevated walkway near the bridge cabin. The baggage loader was provided with a loading opening aligned with an access opening in one wall of the walkway to permit articles to be placed into the baggage loader. Once the baggage loader was full, or when all the passengers were boarded, a panel or other means would be activated to seal off the access opening, then one end of the baggage loader would 1 be pivotally lowered to the ground level where the articles could be retrieved and loaded into the aircraft baggage compartment. U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,590 illustrates such a baggage loader. However, such baggage loaders created potential safety hazards if the baggage was left in the walkway or if airline personnel were required to be positioned in the walkways to load the baggage into the baggage loader. Additionally, the need for more compact and safer structures, as well as structures located nearer the aircraft remained.
More recent attempts to resolve the late bag problem include the use of various chutes positioned alongside the bridge cabin access stairway. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,109,854, 6,390,757, 6,401,901, and 6,676,359, as well as U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2001/0007631, 2002/0060119, and 2003/0219329 illustrate such constructions. However, such constructions result in a number of late bags being accumulated in the bridge cabin before any airline personnel is available to remove the accumulated bags. This can create an unsafe area increasing the likelihood that a passenger or airline person to trip and fall over the bags. This construction also requires the airline personnel to leave the bridge cabin in order to load the articles onto the chutes, thus creating an increased security risk from not being able to monitor the movement of the passengers into and out of the aircraft. Because of their weight and/or shape, the bags can be difficult to lift and position on many of these chutes and thus increase the likelihood of injury to the airline personnel. Additionally, such chute constructions are not compact and are positioned, even when not in use, to more likely to be damaged by baggage transport carts or other ground level vehicles that move about the bridge and aircraft area. Thus, there remains a need by the airline industry for a simpler, more efficient, and safer means to solve the late bag problem.